Tuesday, 29 September 2015

Cruise arrivals in Alicante increasing

Cruise ship arrivels in Alicante are rising. The Britannia,
an imposing ship already docked in Alicante in April and June, but in total
there will be 18 cruises, They arrive in the capital of the Costa Blanca. It is
the highest figure recorded in October, which is historically the best since
2009, when 19 vessels deposited in the city's formidable figure of 32,061
passengers, according to official statistics published by the State Ports.

Although it is not possible to know the total number of
passengers a priori because not all ships will arrive filled, the potential
capacity of the 18 ships planned next month is around 25,000 people. In total,
according to the forecast scales until year end, the overall number of
passengers multiplied almost threefold in 2015 compared to 34,583 the few who
arrived last year, when the Alicante cruise arrivels were at its lowest. This
year we expect about 96,000, similar to the 2009 figure, but still far from the
record, the Alicante received 108,435 cruise passengers in 2011.

The virtual disappearance of MSC ships often docked in 2011
coinciding with the designation of Valencia as the basis for the Italian shipping
port, and the rise of Cartagena, benefited from a drop in rates Alicante was
not authorized to be performed by losses, plunged cruise tourism in the capital
of the Costa Blanca. During the mandate of Jose Joaquin Ripoll, the Port
Authority has outsourced the management of the cruise terminal, but watched as
year after year the numbers dropped to rock bottom in 2014.

Besides the aforementioned Britannia, between ships provided
highlights the presence of AIDA Aura, with its 1,200 passengers will have four
stops in Alicante, on 4, 11, 18 and 25 October, every Sunday, a circumstance
that usually generates controversy a city in which these days is debate about
the possibility of annulment, as promised Mayor Gabriel Echavarri, the
statement large influx Tourist Zone allowing shops to open more than 300 meters
in the downtown area.

Ventura, brother of Britannia with a potential passage of
3,300 people, has provided two scales, 6 and 19, so that the latter day, the
only match in which three cruisers on the docks, the city could receive more
than 8,000 tourists by sea within hours. To the delight of traders it is on a
Monday.